


Triplane

by marbll_anxsui



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elementals, F/F, M/M, alternate universe - gods are real, alternate universe - you have 2 chances to live thats it, heaven hell and earth are on their own individual planes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:00:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23254354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marbll_anxsui/pseuds/marbll_anxsui
Summary: The date is May 1st 2016. Housemates Alexander Johansen, Jack Johansen, Lukas Phillips, and Gerard Pae are moving out of their home in hell to live on Earth after not seeing the place for almost 3 years.(planned to update when i can, getting a small rework soon)
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	1. Wake Up, Get up, Get out There (Alexander)

**Author's Note:**

> hello! thank you for taking the time to read my book. well "book" in terms that it's a story with my original characters i've had going for a good chunk of time! if the lore is confusing, don't worry! i'll either have lore chapters or lore in the notes after this chapter! either way, happy reading!

My whole body feels numb. I’ve definitely been sleeping for longer than I need to--or maybe my weighted blanket is a little too weighted.

What was I doing again today?

Oh yeah. We’re packing up.

I guess I should start off with an introduction. I’m Alexander Johansen. I’m 19 and I live in Hell.

I think normal people are usually freaked out when they hear things like “I live in Hell” or “I live in Heaven” or “I was stuck in Purgatory until the Gods wanted to make use of me”, so let me explain.

In this world, everyone gets a second chance to live. Or like, 3 if you’re just _that_ lucky. The gist is, you die, and you get sent to wherever the Gods who rule Heaven and Hell want you to be and you’re just fine. No wounds, no anything, and you’re still 100% alive. It’s a godsend for people who are afraid of dying but this chance is the only other chance you get so the fear doesn’t subside for long.

It’s a weird set of circumstances, but it’s seen as necessary, I guess.

Anyways, We’re packing up. _I’m_ packing up--or at least, I’m supposed to be, but I’m seriously lacking. We’re only packing up because my brother thought it would be a “nice change of pace” to move back to Earth.

Right. Earth. Because clearly we got the memo that Earth doesn’t want us there by killing us and traumatizing at least 3 of us, but whatever, I guess.

I feel like I should give some background as well. I live with my brother and two other people. My brother, Jack, is an incredibly annoying man--and he’s my twin. If my hair was only a few inches shorter It’d be impossible to differentiate us. Then there are Lukas and Gerard, who are reasonably alright people. Lukas is more so Jack’s friend than mine, but he seems to get along pretty well with all of us. Gerard is… my friend. He is definitely just my friend and nothing else. He’s a great guy and probably the only one in this house that I’m closest to.

I take out my phone to check the time. It’s 13:40 HST or Hell standard time. HST is basically the exact same, but it’s put into a military measurement.

It’s 1:40 pm somewhere on Earth.

I should really start packing my stuff…

So I do. I hadn’t started until now, so I’m not sure how far behind I am, but I _do_ know that this is very last minute.

“Heeeey Alexander what’s up with your room being full of stuff and not boxes?”

I jump and turn around. Jack is in my doorway. Last time I checked, he wasn’t there and my door was closed.

“How-- how long have you been standing there?” I sputter, and he laughs.

“Not very long. Everyone else is done,” He glances over my shoulder, “And _you’re_ just getting started. You do know we’re moving today, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I sigh, “Do we have to move back to Earth? I mean--it’s not like I hate it, but I don’t think it’s a good change of pace.”

“We’re moving, and you can’t do anything about it.” Jack smiles, as if it’s all a joke to him, “Need help?”

Begrudgingly, I say “Yes.”

“Guys, come on,” He leans out of the door and turns his face toward the front room, “we gotta help Alex pack his shit up.”

“Dude.”

“What?” Jack put his hand on my shoulder, “get yourself some breakfast. Gerard made something specifically for you. Like-- _specifically for you_. He told us not to touch it. We got this covered.”

_Oh? For me? Made by Gerard??_

I fight the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth and walk out of the room, saying hi to Lukas and stopping Gerard on the way.

“Hey,” I say, “I-”

“Hey,” Gerard interrupts, “you were told I made you something, right?”

“Did you?”

“I did. Check the fridge.” He flashes a smile--a cherishable, million-dollar smile, and walks off toward my room.

And I walk off toward the kitchen.

\-------

It was salmon candy. _Good_ salmon candy. I’m actually kinda surprised Gerard remembered that I liked it since I barely mention it, but… It’s nice.

“Hey,” I hear behind me, prompting me to turn around, “How was it?”

It’s Gerard. Almost as if it were instinct, I smile.

“It was good.” I say, taking a few steps closer to him, “Thanks.”

“You should see your room,” Gerard takes my hand, “We really did a number on it… we’re almost done.”

I glance down at our hands and back up at Gerard. He’s smiling.

“We… um,” I’m trying to get words out of my mouth but my brain’s moving miles a minute, “we should go do that.”

I really wanted to say something else.

We head back down the hallway and into my room, hands still clasped together.

“Well, well, look who it is! Man of the hour,” Lukas laughed, “How is it?”

“It’s empty.”

He laughed again. God, even his laugh sounds British, “That’s the plan, yeah?”

“I guess.”

“We still have some more stuff, if you’d like to join us,” Jack says, making a face that just screams ‘i’m going to embarrass you’, “but it looks like your hands are well occupied.”

Shit.

Fuck.

I’m still holding Gerard’s hand, aren’t I?

I look down. I am! Great! Perfect!

I am immediately faced with a predicament. Do I let go because I’m panicking after being put on the spot like that, or do I not let go and say something that I _think_ sounds cool but actually just sounds really fucking lame.

“I can still work. This is my room, you know.” I tighten my grip on Gerard’s hand almost instinctively because I’m stressed. I realize what I’m doing and loosen it again, only to feel Gerard do the same.

“That was unnecessary, Jack. Alexander’s perfectly capable of multitasking,” Gerard says, quite meekly, “He… he can hold my hand and put things in boxes, I’m sure. He has two hands.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack sighs, “What’s more important is we’re almost done packing his room and we need to get done and get out of Hell.”

“Right,” I say. Gerard squeezes my hand and I look at him. He smiles at me and lets go of my hand, heading further in my room to continue packing it up.

I follow suit.


	2. Highway From Hell (Jack)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets on the road, something unexpected happens

We finished packing up Alexander’s room and started getting our stuff into the trunk of our (very spacious) van. We (I) bought it just for this because a moving truck seemed too pretentious. We all have passports, so no need to worry about that--Gerard is the only one who doesn’t really need one.

“What’s our destination?” Gerard asked in a rather nervous tone.

“America,” I respond, “Why?”

“Oh god,” Gerard’s voice was shaky, “please tell me we’re not going anywhere near California.”

“No, no,” I shook my head, “We’re going to New York.”

Gerard let out a sigh of relief, “That’s not any better, but… it’ll do.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I’m trying really hard to reassure him because Alexander’s not outside right now, “Trust me, the only thing you really need to worry about is interplanar border patrol and even then you don’t need to worry that much. They just look at your passport, mark your destination, then let you go.”

“It’s a big city.” Gerard affirms, “I… who knows what could happen to us there…”

I put my hand on his shoulder. That’s the one move I use as an attempt to comfort people.

“We’ll be fine, Gerard,” I pat his back and look back at our house to see Alexander walking out with his last box of stuff. It’s clanging, so it must be the kitchen supplies.

“Alright, now that everyone’s here... who’s driving?” I ask.

“I’m not.” Alexander blurts out.

“Didn’t expect you to,” I say, and I really don’t. He shouldn’t feel obligated to drive  _ ever _ , especially after what landed us here.

In summary, we got into a car crash at 16. The road was empty and a car hurled itself at us from an adjacent street. I died first, cause it hit shotgun and I was crushed on impact, killing me instantly. Alexander died a few minutes later from bleeding out. It’s why he doesn’t drive and I try to avoid sitting in the front passenger seat. After the incident, we basically swapped. When it’s just us I drive and he sits shotgun. I just act like I’m not bothered. But Alexander… Alexander shows it. It takes a lot of power to do that.

“I’m too short…” Gerard murmured.

“You can always move the seat.”

“You have a point,” Gerard crossed his arms, “But I’m also not that good of a driver.”

“Ah,” I focus my attention on someone else, “so that brings us down to Lukas and I. Lukas, how do you feel about driving?”

“I’d be fine with that.”

“So would I…” We share a knowing look, and then a laugh. “Rock, Paper, Scissors then? Loser drives.”

“Oh? You’re challenging me? Instead of just bearing the task of driving you’re challenging me?”

“I can’t drive without beating you in rock, paper, scissors.”

“Oho! Then challenge me as much as you’d like!”

There’s a pause, and then we laugh.

“Actually,” Lukas says mid-laugh, “I’ll let you drive, Jack. I know you don’t like to sit shotgun and I also know I’d absolutely kick your ass in rock, paper, scissors.”

“Alright, valid, valid…” I smile, “Thank you, Lukas.”

“It’s no problem.” He smiles at me. His smiles are really something to appreciate. If Lukas Phillips ever smiles at you, you know you’ve done something right.

We all load ourselves into the car. I adjust the mirror, the seat… everything I really need to do before I drive. I pull out of the driveway and make my way to the highway.

The highway to and from hell.

Yes, that’s an actual thing. Nobody really knows if AC/DC was pulling it out of their ass or have actually been here, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a similar situation for the stairway to heaven and Led Zeppelin’s song.

“Does anyone mind me bustin’ out the tunes?” I say, looking directly to the backseat in my rearview mirror.

“C’mon, dude, while you’re driving? That’s irresponsible.” Alexander’s voice is shaky.

“Lukas can put some music on, then. it’ll be fine.”

“Alright… as long as it’s not ‘Highway to Hell’...”

“C’mon, man, do you think I’m that predictable?” Lukas laughs, “I’ll just put on all of our playlists. Y’know, the ones on our shared Spotify account?”

“Oh? Neat.” Alexander sighs--probably a sigh of relief.

Lukas puts my playlist on.

And I keep driving.

My brain is on fire. I hate driving more than I let it show, but I hate sitting in the passenger seat even more. My palms are all clammed up and I’m a nervous wreck. I could just give up and sit shotgun. I could let Lukas drive and have Gerard sit up front so I can sit in the back, but I don’t wanna separate Alex and G like that. We  _ could _ all sit in the back--myself, G, and Alex, but that’d be cluttered.

My grip on the wheel tightens. There’s a rest stop to our left. Thank god.

I turn into the rest stop and park the van. I stumble out, and then suddenly my legs don’t wanna move. I’m shaking. I’m trying not to scream. Trying not to cry. I guess at the end of the day I agree with Alexander. Why are we moving? Why did I insist on even driving when I hate cars? Cars are just small, malleable death boxes to me. I’m so stupid. This was a bad idea. I can’t handle this.

I can’t breathe.

I start crying. And screaming.

“Something’s wrong!” I hear Lukas say. His car door opens and I hear his footsteps running around the front of the car.

“Jack? Jack? Hey, hey, it’ll be alright. You’re alright.” He says to me, “I’ll try and ground you. Uh… hm... you’re in hell. You just stopped at a rest stop. We’re going to be moving out of hell today. Most of all, you’re safe. You’re safe and you’re alive. You’ll be alright.”

I say nothing, just pulling him into a hug. I don’t need to be grounded, but it means a lot that he tried. I hope I’m alright.

“You’re alright. I’m here.” Lukas says, returning the hug.

It takes me a good 5 to 10 minutes--I can’t really tell how long it was--to calm completely down. In that time, Alexander and Gerad got out of the car to help me through it like Lukas did. Or maybe they were already out and helping, but I was just hyperfocused on Lukas. I don’t know. I don’t care, either.

“Can… Can someone else drive? I’ll be sitting in the back. I can’t drive today.” I sputter.

“I’ll go ahead and drive.” Lukas says, reassuring me that this won’t be a big deal, “If anyone who isn’t Jack wants to take shotgun, do it now.”

“I’ll do that,” Gerard insists, “I don’t want to crowd Jack.”

We all got back into the car. I can’t help but feel terrible about that whole showcase. I also can’t help but feel like I completely ruined the trip.

“Hey, you alright?” Alexander asks, “That’s the first time you’ve done that in a while.”

‘I.. yeah.” He’s right, that  _ is _ the first time I’ve done that in a while. The last time, it was just him and I. I was driving and I had to stop, and I started breaking down. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I just…”

“Couldn’t take it?” Alexander flashes a knowing look. “I understand. I’ve been there… I’m sure we all have.”

“Yeah,” I nod.

“No harm, no foul. You’re alright.”

“Alexander’s right,” Gerard said, turning his head back, “I’ve definitely been there.”

“Same,” Lukas nodded, “Wonder why I never go to the River Styx anymore? That’s why. We’ve all got something that sets that sort of reaction off. You’re fine, dude.

I smile. They have a point.

“So…” I begin, “how long until we get to the Hell-Earth border?”

“A day.” Lukas says, “not including stops to sleep or use the bathroom. Thank god for plentiful rest stops.”

“So two days, then?” I laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lore notes 1!  
> The world is comprised of 3 planes, 2 of them representing the afterlife. Those planes are as follows: The heavenly plane, our plane, and the hellish plane. heaven and hell are ruled over by a handful of major gods from every religion with minor gods being just below them in terms of superiority. Heaven and hell are also modeled after the north and southern hemispheres respectively. when you die for the first time, you get transported to either heaven or hell (usually). from there, you can travel between planes as freely as you'd like. some people even crash their own funerals. in order to traverse the planes, however, you need a passport as there are regulations the earth government systems have put on inter-planar travel.


	3. With the Stars and Us (Gerard)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a restless gerard goes to the rest stop bathroom to wash his face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has a minor callback to "go to bed"

This move’s been making me nervous since the moment I heard we were going to a big city. I hate big cities on Earth with a passion. You never know what could happen to you. I lived in San Francisco when I died, running my dad’s convenience store like nothing bad would ever happen. Assflash newshole, something bad _ did _ happen.

All in all, I feel like we all didn’t want to move, deep down… but we kinda had to.

And here we are, late at night, stopped at a rest stop, and I’m restless. I just can’t sleep. I could do a multitude of things right now, but do I really  _ want _ to?

I look in the backseat. Alexander’s fast asleep. So is everyone else.

Everyone else but me.

I sigh. There aren’t actually a lot of people around here. It should be safe for me to go to the bathroom or something.

So that’s what I do. I jump out of the van and head into the bathroom. I place my hands on the counter, observing my surroundings.

I feel deja vu, like a situation that’s happened before is either happening or going to happen again.

Although, I’m not breaking down. I’m perfectly calm. This isn’t a rerun of the time I suddenly woke up in a cold sweat and scrambled to the bathroom and Alexander--

Alexander…

I look in the mirror, and Alexander’s hanging in the doorway. Not like ‘dead’ hanging, he’s just kind of standing there

“Ah. You’re alright.” He walks further in. “I thought… something was wrong so I-”

“I thought you were asleep,” I say. He sighs, half smiling.

“Guess I’m just a light sleeper.” He confesses, that same half smile on his face.

I don’t argue. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, since every time something happens late at night, he’s up and ready.

“Anyways,” He begins again, “I just… I wanted to check on you, considering what happened earlier today.”

“I’m alright, I insist, but…” I walk closer to him, taking his hand as I did earlier. Looking down at our hands, I smile, “Thank you.”

I look up at Alexander, and he’s smiling too. “I, uh…” he starts something but goes back on it. I can tell he does, because he gets all nervous, “No problem!”

I laugh. “You’re cute. You know that, right?”

His face turns red, and he flashes a bashful look. God, he’s not just cute--he’s downright  _ adorable _ .

I’m surprised our relationship isn’t as weird as all hell. I thought it’d be for the longest time, but it’s not, and there’s something endearing about that.

I guess the only reason I thought it’d be weird is because I  _ did _ kiss him two weeks after I moved in, like, almost 4 years ago.It’s still clearly very fresh in both of our minds, I can tell, but we don’t mention it often. And even so, we’re still close.

I’m glad things didn’t turn out weird. Gives me less to worry about.

“You… ah, fuck,” Alexander says, sounding exasperated--he always sounds like that when he’s flustered, ”you’re cute, too…”

I’m already smiling, so I’m not sure if there’s a way I could possibly smile even more than I am right now, but it sure does feel like it.

We stand there for a moment, which almost immediately brings me back to this morning. Maybe this is what the deja-vu was for.

“We, um…” I can’t think straight. Not that I could before, but regardless, “We should go back to the van.”

“Right! Right…” Alexander looks sort of bummed. He lets go of my hand and kisses me on the forehead, “I’ll go on ahead. G’night, Gerard.”

God, I think I’m in love.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Alexander Johansen.

I head back to the van.

\-------

We’re already back on the road when I wake up. I don’t move, since that might interrupt the conversation Lukas and Jack are having

“Remember when you tried to get Alex into Jojo?”

“Sure do. Didn’t he actually like it for a while?”

“Yeah. If you count a week as ‘a while’. He didn’t even finish part 3, did he?”

“No. I don’t think the earlier parts are his thing either. He seems like a 4, 6, or 8 kinda guy.”

“How’s Jojolion coming along, anyway? Haven’t been keeping up with it.”

“Haato’s got an evil boyfriend. His name’s like… Damo I think.”

“Is he the main villain?”

“Don’t think so. Not getting those ‘late in the part’ vibes, either.”

They’re talking about anime. How am I not surprised? I turn and look in the backseat. Jack is wide awake, while Alexander’s still sleeping.

I get Jack’s attention almost immediately. “Morning, G,” He says.

“Look who’s finally awake,” Lukas says, glancing over at me from the driver’s seat, “You hungry? Thirsty?”

“I’m a little parched,” I admit.

“On it!” Jack yells, turning around and leaning over behind the seat, presumably to get something from the cooler, “What d’you want?”

“Uh…. hm,” I look back at Jack again, “A sprite, if there’s any to spare.”

“Sprite comin’ right up!” Jack shouts, presumably taking a sprite out of the cooler only to chuck it at me. I catch it. And then almost drop it only to catch it again.

“Mmm… what--” Alexander mumbles for a moment, and then opens his eyes, “Oh…”

“Morning!” I say, smiling. He stares at me for a second and smiles back.

“Morning…” He replies. He’s obviously still very sleepy.

He’s cute when he’s sleepy. I mean, he’s cute all the time, but especially when he’s, like, flustered or sleepy. He flashes a small, tired smile at me and turns to Jack.

“‘Sup, Alex. You want something to drink?” Jack greets.

“Hmm…  _ oui _ ,” He stretches out his arms, “Can you get me a Dr. Pepper?”

“On it,” Jack reaches back into the cooler and drags out a Dr. Pepper, only to gently hand it to his brother.

“ _ Merci _ ,” He opens the Dr. Pepper and takes a drink that can only be comparable to someone desperately trying to get the last drop of water in a canteen while they’re stranded in a desert.

“ _ De rien,”  _ and it is at this point I realize that I don’t understand what they’re saying. I mean, I can  _ guess _ , but I wouldn’t be too sure because I don’t know a lick of French.

Whatever. It doesn’t matter.


	4. & (Lukas)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lots of driving

Driving, even with people with you, is a surprisingly isolating experience. I mean, I’m in control of this machine that could malfunction or that I could easily just steer off of the road. I’m in control of my life and the lives of those with me, because one mistake might be another man’s death.

Both of the twins have told me something like that at two vastly different times with two vastly different contexts, and now I’m finally starting to understand what they were talking about. There’s this pressure on me that wasn’t there before. I doubt it’s the same pressure they feel, because on top of their pressure, there’s trauma. I don’t have that sort of trauma linked to cars and driving and stuff.

“Good news guys. We’ll be at the border in half an hour,” I yawn, “So much for two days.”

“Are you sure? You look tired,” Gerard says. I appreciate his concern, and how he cares about people, but I’m more than sure.

“There’s no rest stops for the next 15 minutes at this rate,” I yawn again, “and by the time we got there, there’d be no use to stop because there’s only one more 15 minute stretch.”

“I get it, I really do, but please don’t overwork yourself,” Gerard sighs, turning to look at the backseat.

“Hey, G.” Jack sluggishly greets him. “Alex is already asleep. Passed out like 5 minutes ago.”

“I figured,” Gerard turns back around, stretching and then yawning. “I think that’s my cue.”

I don’t take time out of my driving to watch him, but I can tell he’s adjusting. These seats creak like nobody’s business.

I keep driving. We're 10 minutes from the rest stop. It feels like we’re forever away though.

“Jack, are you still up?” I say, not taking the time to look in the back.

“Yeah,” He yawns, “I’ve just been chillin’ to your playlist for the past two hours since you put it on.”

“This is an odd question, can you stay awake for me?” I can’t help but ask because I feel so alone if there’s not at least one other person who’s awake.

“Sure. I don’t see why not,” He stretches and I can hear him turn around and open the cooler. He’s probably grabbing a soda or an energy drink or something similar.

“Thank you,” I say, smiling. I yawn again.

We end up talking for the next 9 minutes, and then he tells me, “Hey, go ahead and pull into the rest stop. It’ll be better if we start back up first thing tomorrow. Plus, you look like you need to sleep.”

“I do, actually,” I sigh, pulling in, cursing myself for thinking I could drive more.

We stop, and he leans forward and puts his arms around the seat behind my neck.

“Goodnight Lukas,” He says, and then leans back into his seat.

“Night Jack,” I reply, adjusting myself so I can be more comfortable.

I fall asleep almost instantly.

\-------

I’m the last to wake up this time. Everyone’s eating and as soon as I lean up, Jack offers to give me half of his sushi. I accept and we all talk over breakfast, which is nice, I think. It makes me feel like we’re back in the house again.

“Does everyone have their passports?” I ask, “We’ve got to check before we get there just like we checked before we left.”

“I do,” Gerard says, “It’s in my pocket.”

“Mine’s in my jacket. So’s Jack’s. One passport per pocket.” Alexander confirms.

“Alright. And mine’s right… here!” I pull my passport from the dashboard. I had to keep it somewhere I could see it.

“We’re all set, then?” Jack wipes his mouth with his arm. There’s nothing there, but he probably thought he made a mess with the soy sauce like he usually does.

“Yep. Let’s get to it.” I say.

We all put our things away and get back on the road. Or--try to get back on the road, its jam fucking packed today.

We do eventually get back on the highway, and within a few extra minutes tacked on to our thirty (it ended up being an hour) we were at the border between hell and earth.

Everything went smoothly. They checked our passports and gave us the okay to go.

Now all we have to do is find our house. We’re already in New York, so it shouldn’t be long…

Oh, who am I kidding, I’ve heard the rumors about New York traffic! They’re not good. It sounds worse than London traffic for sure…

I’m not used to this, now that I think about it. Not used to driving on the other side of the road--or at all, really.

“The GPS says to take a left up here,” Jack reminds me. I turn. “It’s the third house down on the right I think.”

Right, right. I turn into the driveway and…

It looks exactly like our house in hell, except not quite? It’s two stories, while our house in hell was one story.

Those must be really, really big bedrooms. I wouldn’t know, of course, I’m not the one who bought it. This was Jack’s doing.

“Eh?? Eh?? You like it? Did I pick the right house?” Jack asks, leaning forward with his hands on the sides of my seat. I smile.

“Yeah. How big are the bedrooms?” They must be really fucking big. There’s no WAY a two story house of that size has small bedrooms.

“Oh, They’re pretty big I think. Two per floor. Plus 2 bathrooms,” He explains, “Top floor has a closet that makes up for space that the front room and kitchen took so that everythings equal I guess. Doesn’t even look like a closet from the pictures. It might be extra room for a man cave bro!!”

I laugh, unbuckling my seatbelt, “Maybe. C’mon, let’s get our stuff in the house.”

I step outside of the car, and… I can’t believe how good it feels to step on solid ground again.


End file.
